George Orwell's "1984" vs. Ridley Scott’s ‘Blade Runner’

George Orwell’s 1984 is more than just a novel, it is a warning to a potential dystopian society of the future. Written in 1949, Orwell envisioned a totalitarian government under the figurehead Big Brother. In this totalitarian society, every thought and action is carefully examined for any sign of rebellion against the ruling party. Emotion has been abolished and love is nonexistent; an entire new language is being drafted to reduce human thought to the bare minimum. In a society such as the one portrayed in 1984, one is hardly human. In George Orwell’s 1984, the party uses fear, oppression, and propaganda to strip the people of their humanity.

George Orwell's 1984 What look on humanity and human nature, if any, can be seen through this book, 1984?

1984 has come and gone. The cold war is over. The collapse of oppressive totalitarian regimes leads to the conclusion that these governments by their nature generate resistance and are doomed to failure. The fictional world of George Orwell's novel, 1984, is best described as hopeless; a nightmarish dystopia where the omnipresent State enforces perfect conformity among members of a totalitarian Party through indoctrination, propaganda, fear, and ruthless punishment. In the aftermath of the fall of capitalism and nuclear war, the world has been divided among three practically identical totalitarian nation-states. A state of perpetual war and poverty is the rule in Oceania. However, this is merely a backdrop, far from the most terrifying

Ridley Scott and George Orwell both continually depict control in their texts through the utilisation of various techniques, in order to portray the effect this has on the characters of Blade Runner and 1984 respectively. This is done by both Scott and Orwell expertly and provides the audience with further insight and depth of the characters. Orwell and Scott respectively utilise the surrounding setting of their protagonists to depict the control that they are under, each author does this by likening their protagonist to the setting and displays evidently that the setting has impacted the characters. Motifs and symbols are utilised heavily by Scott and Orwell to further emphasis the control that is currently

The result is that the dystopian future becomes a realistic possibility to the audience. This has two effects, in the first it makes the events of the film more plausible. Technological development and the creation of robotic life could eventually occur in our own reality. In this regard, the film is using image as presence by setting up this believable world. However, in the second arena it makes the audience reflect on the questions of urbanity and development that exist in our current paradigm, thus inviting discussion about the way human and planning elements are being merged together in our own technology driven world. These concepts are as relevant now as they were when the film was first released two decades ago. The camera continually roves over this world creating spatial continuity that implies that there is virtually no escape from this smoky, polluted, society. The landscape provides a site for making metaphor about the socioeconomic divide that characterizes the Blade Runner universe. The skyscrapers of the wealthy are clear symbols of how the poor are at the bottom of the socio economic

Both ‘Frankenstein’ By Mary Shelley (1818) and ‘Blade Runner’ composed by Ridley Scott (1992) express the concerns of the dire consequences that come as a result of the need for control. These texts were heavily influenced by the rapid growth of technology although reflecting different eras. They highlight the dangers of excessive ambition and the threats to the natural world from different perspectives.

Blade Runner and New Brave World's Perspective's on Humanity Ridley Scott’s film “Blade Runner: Director’s Cut” and Aldous Huxley’s

Shelley’s Romantic novel Frankenstein (1818) compares and reflects values of humanity and the consequences of our Promethean ambition against the futuristic, industrialized world of Blade Runner (1992) by Ridley Scott. The notions of unbridled scientific advancement and technological progress resonate with our desire to elevate humanity’s state of being, mirrored amongst the destructive ambition to overtake and disrupt nature and its processes. The disastrous implications of overreaching the boundary between progressive and destructive power and knowledge are heeded through the ultimate and inevitable loss of self and identity, transforming humanity into a form of monstrosity.

A Comparison of the Themes of Blade Runner and Brave New World ‘Humanity likes to think of itself as more sophisticated than the wild yet it cannot really escape its need for the natural world’ Despite different contexts both Aldous Huxley within his book Brave New World and Ridley Scott in the film Blade Runner explore the idea that humans feel themselves more sophisticated than the natural world, yet are able to completely sever relations between humanity and the nature. Through various techniques both texts warn their varied audiences of the negative ramifications that will come from such disdainful, careless opinions and actions. All aspects of the ‘New State’ within Aldous

“War is peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength”, These are the moral codes and social conventions citizens of George Orwell's 1984 live by. With high level surveillance and publicly inflicted ideologies that promote the governing force puppeteering its nation, 1984 shares shocking similarities with increased security, political power and technology seen in today's world. In the same vein, Ridley Scott's dystopian futuristic thriller Blade Runner, set in an overpopulated, corrupt, corporation governed world can be compared to the world of today in terms of the rapid development in technology and the political influence large corporations can have on governments. Both texts create a futuristic world that is able to form connections with its audience to varying degrees. But how do George Orwell's 1984 and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner depicted futuristic worlds specifically relate to the audience of today?

Bound by different contexts, authors often use a popular medium in order to depict the discontent of the ideas of society. This is evident in the module Texts in Time; as Blade Runner, having been written more than one hundred years after Frankenstein is still able to reflect the ideas proposed in the latter. Blade Runner by Ridley Scott deals with the effects of globalisation and consumerism during 1980’s. Alternatively, the epistolary novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley deals with the kinship to the natural world set in the Romantic Era and enlightenment period. However Blade Runner, although subjected by a different context, also portrays a similar idea to Frankenstein; the fear of science and technology coupled with the value of the definition of a human. Through this commonality, we are able to utilise the values of Blade Runner in order to truly understand Shelley’s purpose.

‘Blade Runner’, the film adaption, directed by Ridley Scott in 1982, of the 1968 novel ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ by Philip K. Dick. This essay will explore the meaning of the Tyrell slogan “More human than human” by following Deckard on Earth in Los Angeles 2019 as a futuristic, dark and depressing industrial metropolis by looking into and discussing what is real and what is not, the good and the bad and why replicants are more appealing than humans. This essay will analyse and pull apart the “Blade Runner’ world, the condition of humanity and what it really means to be human.

Several conflicting frames of mind have played defining roles in shaping humanity throughout the twentieth century. Philosophical optimism of a bright future held by humanity in general was taken advantage of by the promise of a better life through sacrifice of individuality to the state. In the books Brave New World, 1984, and Fahrenheit 451 clear opposition to these subtle entrapments was voiced in similarly convincing ways. They first all established, to varying degrees of balance, the atmosphere and seductiveness of the “utopia” and the fear of the consequences of acting in the non-prescribed way through character development. A single character is alienated because of their inability to conform – often in protest to the forced

1984, Orwell’s last and perhaps greatest work, deals with drastically heavy themes that still terrify his audience after 65 years. George Orwell’s story exemplifies excessive power, repression, surveillance, and manipulation in his strange, troubling dystopia full of alarming secrets that point the finger at totalitarian governments and mankind as a whole. What is even more disquieting is that 1984, previously considered science fiction, has in so many ways become a recognizable reality.

Truly talented writers critique societies foolish actions whilst warning them of their impending future. However, few manage to genuinely depict the origin of these foolish acts. George Orwell’s 1984 and Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner critique both political and social oppression to demonstrate that blind loyalty and the surrendering of free will is the demise of modern society.